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Jessicaisme
Level 1

Credit card Surcharge

I am a little bit confused.  Quickbooks says here 

https://quickbooks.intuit.com/r/getting-paid/credit-card-processing-fees/

that you can add a surcharge to credit card purchases to cover the cost of processing fees, but here 

https://community.intuit.com/articles/1768678-accepting-credit-card-payments-the-basics it says not to.  

 

I am not quite sure what to do.  On other sites it does say that the fee needs to be posted at the point of sale (in office and online) and you need to notify the credit card companies whose cards you are charging the extra surcharge.  I know you can't do a surcharge on debit, but I am confused about if you can or can't on credit cards using quickbooks.  

 

Thanks!

10 Comments 10
IamjuViel
QuickBooks Team

Credit card Surcharge

Let me ease your confusion, @Jessicaisme.

 

I’d be delighted to add more information on how credit card fees are applied and recorded in QuickBooks Online and Point of Sale.

 

In processing credit card payments, there are different fees  that comes with it depending on the payment method you use. May I ask in which state your business is operating in?

 

Credit card surcharges are fees illegal in California, Colorado, Connecticut, Florida, Kansas, Maine, Massachusetts, New York, Oklahoma, Texas, and Puerto Rico. However, you can charge a convenience fee to customers who use credit cards rather than another form of payment that’s standard for the business.

 

To record your payments and processing fees for QuickBooks Payments, here’s how:

  1. Click the Gear.
  2. Choose Account and Settings (or Company Settings).
  3. Select Payments from the left menu.
  4. In the Chart of Accounts section, click the pencil (edit) icon.
  5. For Where do you want to record payments?, choose the correct bank account.
  6. For Where do you want to record processing fees?, select the proper expense account for tracking processing fees.
  7. Click Save.

That should do it!

 

If you’re having difficulty recording credit card processing fees on your end, I’d recommend reaching out to our Customer Care Team . A specialist will review your account on a secured environment and provide the information you need.

 

Feel free to leave a comment below if you have follow-up questions about applying and recording credit card processing fees in QuickBooks. I’m always here to help.

Jolene3
Level 2

Credit card Surcharge

In QuickBooks 2018 under customer payment screen their is a button for Credit Card Processing fee. How does this work? How do I turn it on? I have never used QuickBooks but I might want to start charging customer paying their bills with a credit card a processing fee. 

 

Thanks 

Rustler
Level 15

Credit card Surcharge

it depends partly on the state, some states are rolling back the law that says you can not, others have not. but ... this is the most current I can find
https://www.finder.com/review-guide-to-credit-card-surcharges

Since you can not, in any state, surcharge for a debit or prepaid card, there is no way to issue a surcharge for online sales at all - you do not know the type of card being used.

And in QB an invoice is final, there is no way to issue an invoice that says this much if you pay by cash/eft/elect check, or this much if using a credit card.

I just don't see the issue myself, I use square, so the only time I deal with a merchant processor fee is when I make a sale - no monthly dues or anything - so to me it is a cost of doing business, less than 3% of the sale in actuality.  Now I can see a sign saying something like 4% discount if paid with cash/check.  But then again now you have to deal with bounced checks , and if that happens it is a much higher fee.

kmpfinancial
Level 1

Credit card Surcharge

My company KMP Financial specializes in setting up fully compliant surcharge programs. At the time of writing (May 2020), surcharging is legal in 46 states. Colorado, Connecticut, Kansas, and Massachusetts currently do not allow it.

 

Even if you are in one of the 46 states that do allow surcharging, there are some regulations on both the State level and the Card Brand level that you need to keep in mind. Here are the main ones in layman's terms:

 

  • Notify the card brands (Visa/MC/Discover/AMEX) in writing prior to starting a surcharge program
  • Disclose the surcharge at the point of sales (i.e. "we apply a small fee for credit card transactions, no fee for debit")
  • The surcharge amount must not be greater than your actual cost of processing the card
  • Never apply a surcharge to debit cards
  • Calculate and display the surcharge amount on the payment page prior to clicking "submit"

As you can see, there are some tricky technical and compliance requirements that need to be executed in order to do this correctly. However, if you have the right partner, it is possible to achieve a 0% rate on credit card processing.

 

Our payment gateway handles all of this for you at no charge, and our compliance team will take care of all the paperwork with the card brands. In addition, we have a reporting module that allows you to easily update each transaction back in Quickbooks. Feel free to visit https://www.kmpfinancial.com/ for more information.

dji1
Level 1

Credit card Surcharge

Would this be the same in Canada?

JamesM4
QuickBooks Team

Credit card Surcharge

Hi dji1. Thanks for reaching out here. I'll be happy to answer questions related to QuickBooks Canada. Could you elaborate more on what you'd like to accomplish using the program? 

Harley14
Level 1

Credit card Surcharge

Does Quickbooks/Intuit require that I notify customers prior to charging that a surcharge is added for use of credit card?

JessT
Moderator

Credit card Surcharge

Hi Harley14,

 

As of right now, we're not supporting the option to surcharge customers for using credit cards in their payments. For this reason, there isn't a requirement to notify customers about it since it's not an existing feature in the first place.

 

Hope this clears up everything.

 

If you have other concerns, feel free to go back to this thread. Take care and have a good one!

Harley14
Level 1

Credit card Surcharge

I respectfully suggest that you may be mistaken.  I was charged a 3.5% surcharge that the vendor does not list on the receipt but does appear on the invoice.

 

 

 

Mich_S
QuickBooks Team

Credit card Surcharge

Hello there, @Harley14.

 

I can share information about fees when processing transactions in QuickBooks Payments.

 

Each time you complete a transaction, QuickBooks Payments charges you a fee. Fees also depend on how the payment was processed.

 

In addition, you may need to incorporate surcharges or service fees for the products and services you sell at times. These costs can be manually added to new or existing invoices. We'll show you how to make a fee item in QuickBooks, which you can then use as a line item on an invoice.

 

To begin with, create a service fee item in QuickBooks:

  1. Access the Sales menu and choose the Products and services tab.
  2. Click on New.
  3. Choose Service.
  4. Give the fee a name.
  5. Choose the category that best describes the fee from the Category ▼ dropdown. Learn more about item categories.
  6. Fill in the rest of the information needed.
  7. Once done, hit Save and close.

 

To completely add the fee to an invoice, follow step 2 from this article: Add service fees manually to invoices.

 

 

Also, feel free to learn more about payment processing fees .

 

 

Let me also add this article to guide you on how to manage invoices: Customize invoices, estimates, and sales receipts in QuickBooks Online.

 

 

Just hit the Reply button if you need further help with this or with QuickBooks. It's my pleasure to always help you. Have a good one!

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